thearena | [open] Wood and stone will fall away

Who| Phil Gray and open!
What| Week 2 Catchall with various prompts
Where| Everywhere except the Castle (ha ha no)
When| During Week 2
Warnings/Notes| None at the moment!

A. The Village

Getting Linden's parachute was a godsend, as Phillip unwrapped the package and read the note. He chuckled a little at the "noble angle" snipe, it sure didn't feel like that. That would imply that Gray had done more to prevent the murders instead of just covering them up. Well, better late than never, the former guard sighed out and stuffed what he could into his makeshift bag. He'd seen the mess that comes from getting too close to powered Tributes, a legitimate threat this time around, and he had turned into old instincts to keep off the beaten path. Survived this long to get blasted? No thanks.

But none of that, nor the temporary beauty that came with every sunset gave the Phone Guy any comfort that this was anything but the death match he knew and resigned himself to. Nowhere was this more evident in the way tried to sneak into the Village. He'd heard inklings about ghosts roaming the Castle and catacombs at night...and just maybe...

"No, I won't find them here," Phil assured himself as he made a quick lasso for any emergencies. Who "they" were was known to a select few but for being merely memories, they sure weighed a lot in his mind.

Focus on finding Clementine and Sandy, make sure they're safe, figure out the rest later. Raiding caches was distasteful, yes, but if the Capitol wants to see how far Phillip Gray could go to meet those goals, then he'll do his best to give them a show.

B. The Village Part Deux For Firo

If Gray was good at something, it was keeping a level head through stressful situations, and raiding had to be listed as one of those sorts. But keeping the rats at bay just reminded him of the dumpsters out back from Freddy's. The stink was just as bad anyways but not too unfamiliar. Either way, there was food here and nothing a little brush of the hand couldn't fix so he could store it away. By now though, Phil had no issue with keeping the small folding knife somewhere close, ready to defend himself.

Prochainezo said he was going to help me, he thought as he bit into a piece of the rations he had for himself. The other? Stored away for any young or hungry Tribute he ran into that wouldn't try to kill him. What? It might be his second Arena but he's not about to give up being who he is for the bloodshed.

Even if it kills him.

"Firo?" Phil peeked into an adjacent building, hoping Firo wasn't playing him after all this time.

C. Wild Card! Pick whatever you'd like to do!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's been awhile since Kurt's eaten and despite the nerves coiling in his belly, hunger wins out. He takes the apple into his two-fingered hand with a thankful nod. "Convenient timing? What could be convenient about being kidnapped?"

He bites into the apple, giving further thought to what the guy is saying. "So they set traps, the people who run this?"

"About to die, I'm afraid," Gray admitted, giving Kurt some idea of what may have happened to him, but makes the quick addition, "But I'm not the norm, mind you. There's tributes here from all over, including children. We're all here for their entertainment and they will never let you forget it. Where were you taken from?"

Phil then asks, "Do you have the means to defend yourself?" All he can offer is a shard of glass he used before, if slightly bloody because he didn't properly protect himself before.

"Oh. I'm sorry," because what else do you say to that? Glad you were rescued into a sprawling murder game? That doesn't exactly strike the right tone.

"I was told we're not for entertainment though, that the Districts they assign us will get food and supplies if we do well. Isn't that important?" Helping people always is. But the guy asked some questions, so Kurt should answer him.

"I was taken from school, the Xavier Institute." Which easily outs him as a mutant, but without his image inducer that's a foregone conclusion. "And I can defend myself fine. I'm an X-Man."

Kurt's statement brought back some of Phil's hope and drive, "You were told correctly, we fight for the Districts but we entertain the Capitol. They never tell you these things when you're shoved into the transport. It's very important that we try to survive as long as we can or our Districts don't get the extra wares."

A wave of nostalgia briefly hit Gray, he felt like he was instructing a rookie all over again. But the way the mutant talked about the Institute and being an X-man, the former guard had to ask, a spark in his eyes, "Are you a superhero?"

Like Venus and some of the other Tributes, perhaps?

A superhero. He'd heard Storm called that once, and the younger students toss the word around, but it's not as if they were ever accepted as heroes to the general public, even after they'd saved the world from Apocalypse.

But they had saved the entire world from Apocalypse. If that doesn't make the X-Men superheroes, then Kurt has no idea what else would qualify.

"Yes," Kurt replies with a big grin. "I'm definitely a superhero."

Phillip can't help lighting up even further, as he gives Kurt a little salute and all that. "I-I have this friend, she's this really beautiful superhero, she teleports and well, she helped me out, I bet you if she finds you, she'll give you a lot more help th-than I can."

Was he rattling on about Venus for a moment? Yep, he wasn't trying to hide the fact that she helped him so much that he could tell Kurt would benefit so much from her advice. Oh wait, he just spilled some of his feelings in that ramble. Shit.

He tried to bury all that by asking, "What's your power?" Because the blueness is not quite telling.

"I'm a teleporter too! I think I may have met your girlfriend, actually. Venus, right?" Because clearly no one talks about anyone like that without being a couple. He's sixteen years old, he knows these things. "She went to my school, but in another reality? Or something like that. Either way, she left me with some supplies."

A thought strikes him and before he can catch it to examine it on the way out of his brain it gets to his mouth first. "Why aren't you with her?"

"Yes Ven-" Whoops, Kurt broke the Phone Guy. So many thing stated and he was damn sure his brain couldn't handle it. "Venus. Sh-she had to, uh, drop off more supplies, we-we got separated, I-I'm not a mutant or superhero, as you can see," he managed to say all that and not completely mess up. "She's not my girlfriend, we-we're friends! Trust me, uh, she's so out of my league or whatever."

Words were hard right now, okay? But there was genuine affection behind that denial. "I just hope she's okay."

She's not.

"Right, and I have five fingers and toes." Which, clearly, is not the case. Sorry Phil but you're really transparently affectionate. You gushed. That's evidence enough for Kurt. "And she's a mutant, so I'm sure she'll be okay. We usually are. Our professor says that we're more advanced genetically and we can use our gifts to better survive."

Though Xavier had always made it very clear that this did not make them superior to the rest of humanity, even if Magneto and other mutants and extremists had other opinions. Luckily, Kurt leans more towards Xavier's school of thought.

"I ran into her further into the village, if you want to try and find her." He would offer to teleport with Phil if they were under normal circumstances, but thanks to the beacon that would appear over his head if he were to utilize his more powerful of mutant gifts, Kurt's not exactly willing to go that far.

"Well, technically speaking," Phillip bit back his usual wit to hear the rest of what Kurt had to say. Maybe he could see her again, and for once, he didn't care that he was so obvious in his feelings. Maybe he could find Venus again, but there's also a risk that she was already gone. She said it herself, she was dying anyways. That all he would find is a beautiful corpse, and he had no roses to give her this time around.

"I-I was headed there anyways, you sure you can make it there?" he took out a small cloth bag he made from his clothes, "I gotta drop this off and I need cover."

"Sure, of course. Protecting people is what superheroes do. What I do." He grins, showing sharp teeth, but it can't be all that scary with his tail near wagging in eagerness to help. He's sold on Phil now, mostly because of his mentions of Venus. Venus is clearly on his side, being an alumni of Xavier's, so Phil must be as well. It's all very logical.

"I'm not sure she's still there, though. She said she had to deliver more supplies to people, but it's worth a look."

The more Kurt talked, the less ferocious and dangerous he became to Phillip as he led the way towards the village and kept his hopes up, "Ever save a damsel in distress and gotten a thank you kiss?" He was desperately hoping for something that even his mind had long accepted. Keeping his knife out and ready for combat is not something he'd readily do but...

The burn marks on the ground were not the best indications that Venus was entirely in one piece.

[open] Wood and stone will fall away

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